"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 12 - Eloise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

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Eloise
#12 in the Dumarest series

E.C Tubb




Chapter One


There was nothing soft about the office. It was a vast chamber
designed on functional lines, bleak in its Spartan simplicity; the
sound-proofing which covered the walls, floor and roof a dull,
neutral grey, devoid of distracting color or decoration. Only the
blazing simulacrum which hung suspended in the air at the
center of the room gave a richness to the place; a depiction of the
galaxy at which Master Nequal, Cyber Prime, stared with
thoughtful interest.

It was a masterpiece of electronic ingenuity; tiny motes of
light held in a mesh of invisible forces, the entire lens
constrained within three hundred cubic feet of space. With such
compression, detail had to be lost; the billions of individual
worlds, the comets, asteroidal matter, satellites, minor regions of
dust, all swallowed in the glowing depiction of countless stars.
Nequal touched a control and red flecks appeared in scattered
profusion, irregularly spaced but extending throughout most of
the area. Each fleck represented a cyber, a trained and dedicated
servant of the Cyclan of which Nequal was now the accepted
head.

An ancient emperor would have felt gratification at the extent
of his rule, but Nequal could feel no such emotion. And there was
no need of personal ambition. To be Cyber Prime was to be at
the very apex of his world. Even to be a part of the Cyclan was to
be a part of a near-invisible empire which would, in time,
dominate every known fragment of space.

Softly he walked beside the simulacrum, concentrating;
noting gaps, the proximity of concentrations, the blank regions
in which no red glimmers showed, turning as the door opened to